"Syrian security forces fired live rounds into crowds gathered for at least two protests in the central city of Homs, an activist in the city said, as pro-democracy demonstrations erupted across the country on Friday. "

1. Everyone knows on planet earth that I can't stand Muslims, and its true, I can't, but knowing that Muslims are just shooting and killing each other in *cold blood*, I can't allow this.
2. Its not justified.
3. Like I defended the trans-gender being attacked by the two Negro hoes, I can not stand by quietly while an injustice is taking place, this indiscriminate murdering of their citizens.
4. Its pure *evil* and I can't go for that.

Obama givin' Assad what for...US slams Syria for humanitarian crisis after its crackdownMon, Jun 13, 2011 - UPPING THE ANTE:The US administration has become more vocal in telling the Syrian leader to either embrace change or get out of the way

The US on Saturday accused Syria of creating a humanitarian crisis with its fierce crackdown on protests and called on Damascus to allow access for medics. The remarks came after Syrian forces backed by helicopters killed at least 25 protesters across the country, including in and around the northwest town of Jisr al-Shughur, where thousands have fled across the Turkish border. The Syrian governments offensive in northern Syria has created a humanitarian crisis, the White House said in a statement.

The United States calls upon the Syrian government to stop this violence and to give the International Committee for the Red Cross [ICRC] immediate, unfettered access to this region, it added. If Syrias leaders fail to provide this access, they will once again be showing contempt for the dignity of the Syrian people. Protesters took to the streets again on Friday after weekly Muslim prayers to demand the fall of the regime as part of a three-month uprising against the Assad familys 40-year rule. More than 1,200 civilians have been killed since the revolt erupted in mid-March, according to rights groups.

Washington has toughened its stance in recent days, telling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he should halt the violence and either preside over a peaceful political transition or get out of the way. However, US President Barack Obamas administration has stopped short of demanding that Assad step down. The US has also thrown its weight behind a UN Security Council resolution proposed by Britain and France that condemns Syria for its brutal crackdown on protesters, but Russia, one of five veto-wielding members of the council, opposes any resolution on Syria.

Granny says dat means he ain't worth a tick onna hound dog...Syria: Clinton Says Assad Has Lost LegitmacyTuesday, July 12th, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy and that the United States has no interest in his government retaining power.

Clinton cautioned Mr. Assad and his supporters Monday that there is no truth to suggestions the U.S. is secretly hoping the current government emerges intact from the country's turmoil, to ensure regional stability. In Washington's strongest condemnation of Mr. Assad since his security forces launched a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March, Clinton said the authoritarian leader is not indispensable, and that the U.S. has nothing invested in him remaining in power. She also condemned recent mob attacks on the U.S. embassy and the American ambassador's residence in Damascus, as well as separate assaults against French diplomatic missions in the country.

Clinton accused Mr. Assad's government of attempting to divert attention from its brutal domestic crackdown, and she demanded that Syria uphold international treaty obligations to protect foreign diplomats and missions. She also charged that Damascus has accepted aid from Iran to repress the Syrian people. Earlier, the State Department summoned a senior Syrian diplomat in Washington to protest the attack on the U.S. embassy and to seek compensation for damages. Crowds of Syrians loyal to Mr. Assad surged into the U.S. embassy compound in Damascus Monday. Attackers broke windows, raised a Syrian flag on the grounds and wrote anti-U.S. graffiti on walls. The mob left after the brief incursion was pushed back by U.S. Marine guards.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington that the Syrian security response to the assault was slow. She blamed a pro-government Syrian television station for inciting the violence. The French embassy gates were also the scene of protests on Monday. French security guards fired in the air to keep demonstrators from entering the grounds. Officials said three embassy staffers were injured. The protests come amid rising tensions with Syria's government after last week's visit by the U.S. and French ambassadors to the flashpoint city of Hama. Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier traveled to Hama Thursday and Friday to show solidarity with its residents, who have come under attack from government forces while staging some of the largest protests to date against Mr. Assad.

Syria's foreign ministry called the visits flagrant interference in the country's internal affairs aimed at undermining its stability. Also Monday, rights activists and residents said Syrian troops backed by armored vehicles entered the central city of Homs, killing at least one person and wounding 20 others. The actions come as Syria held the second day of what it calls a national dialogue on political reform. Some government critics have joined the talks in Damascus, but the main opposition groups are boycotting to protest President Assad's deadly crackdown. Rights groups say Syrian security forces have killed at least 1,600 civilians during the crackdown, while the government blames the violence on terrorists and Islamists who it says have killed hundreds of security personnel.

World ire mounts toward Syria...Outside Pressure Builds on SyriaAugust 2, 2011  Syrias diplomatic isolation deepened Tuesday in the aftermath of an intense military assault on the city of Hama and other hotbeds of the nearly five-month-old antigovernment uprising.

Russia, an important ally of Syria, signaled new support for possible Security Council action, Syrian democracy activists received a warm welcome in Washington, Italy withdrew its ambassador to Damascus, and the United Nations Secretary General and top rights official both issued blunt rebukes of Syria President Bashar al-Assads government. The developments came as news services reported Syrian artillery forces had begun shelling and shooting in Hama for the third day in a row. Reuters quoted unidentified Hama residents as saying shells hit at least two neighborhoods after nightly Ramadan prayers, and that protesters who had tried to mass in another part of Hama were scattered by bullet fire. Casualties were not known.

By some estimates, more than 100 Syrians have died since Sunday, the majority of them in Hama, as the Mr. Assads military forces expanded an effort to thoroughly crush the uprising against him. More than 1,400 Syrians have been killed since the uprising began in March. At the United Nations, the Security Council convened for a second day to discuss possible action that would punish Syria. Russia and China, two of the Councils permanent members, had threatened previously to veto a proposed resolution, but Kremlin officials in Moscow suggested on Tuesday that they might have softened their position. Whether that means Russia might now support a Security Council resolution or some lesser form of reprimand aimed at Syria remained unclear.

We are not categorically against everything, Sergei Vershinin, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministrys Middle East and North Africa Department, told reporters in Moscow. We are categorically against what doesnt help bring forward a peaceful settlement. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, made some of his strongest criticisms yet, saying through a spokesman that he believed the Syrian president had lost all sense of humanity. Earlier in Geneva, Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, criticized what she called the Syrian governments effort to shield the brutality of its crackdown from public view by banning outside news coverage and preventing a U.N. fact-finding mission from visiting.

The world is watching, and the international community is gravely concerned, she said, according to Agence France-Presse. The government has been trying to keep the world blind about the alarming situation in the country, but they are not succeeding. In Washington, the Obama administration, which has toughened its line toward Syria in recent weeks, officially welcomed Syrian democracy advocates based in the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with them on Tuesday as more American lawmakers called for punitive steps against Mr. Assad and his officials, beyond the economic and travel sanctions already imposed.

Security Council ends Tuesday's meeting on Syria without actingAugust 2, 2011 : "No final agreement was possible today," says Russian ambassador; President Assad "has lost all sense of humanity," the U.N. secretary-general says; Five people died in Hama on Tuesday, activists say

The 15 members of the U.N. Security Council ended a second day of private discussion Tuesday without deciding how to respond to Syria's violent crackdown on protesters. "Unfortunately, after yesterday's discussion and after many hours of discussion starting in the morning today and ending at almost 8 p.m., no final agreement was possible today among Security Council members," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters. "We agreed to refer back to our capitals and then reconvene tomorrow in order to see whether a common position is possible."

Asked what the sticking points were, he said, "The required balance has not been achieved in the course of those discussions and in the current shape and form of the text." He did not elaborate, but Western diplomats said he was referring to criticism of violence wielded by the Syrian armed forces not being balanced by criticism of violence by the protesters. But Churkin held out hope that the world body would be able to decide on a response -- whether it be a presidential statement, which would require a consensus, or a resolution, which would be stronger.

Western powers are seeking passage of a resolution, which Russia has not backed, Western diplomats said. Lebanon, which has been reluctant to sign on to a critique of its neighbor, would need to agree to a consensus. Discussions are to resume at 10 a.m. "I hope that members of the Security Council will receive instructions which will allow them to modify some of their positions -- which are too far-reaching in terms of leaning on one side," Churkin said. He called for the council "to do everything possible in order to pull away from the brink of civil war where Syria is finding itself, unfortunately and tragically, at this point."

Western press deputies said the council members spent Tuesday discussing how to marry two texts. One is a European draft resolution that had its origins in May, amid the initial reaction to the violence, and the other includes elements from the Brazilian representative that don't go as far as the European draft in criticizing the Syrian government, the press deputies said. Four European members of the Security Council -- Britain, France, Germany and Portugal -- on Monday had revived a draft U.N. resolution that would probably condemn President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Russia blocking any meaningful solution...Why Russia is blocking international action against SyriaSeptember 19, 2011 - Russia has a strong financial stake in the survival of the Assad regime. But it also opposes Western intervention on principle  particularly in the wake of NATO's Libya campaign.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on the popular uprising against his rule, which has left some 2,600 people dead since March, has earned him opprobrium across the globe. But international efforts to pressure his regime further are unlikely to be enough to bring it down, so long as Mr. Assad retains the support of one powerful global player: Russia. A traditional ally with trade ties worth close to $20 billion, Russia has a strong financial stake in the Assad regime's survival. But Moscow's support goes beyond pocketbook issues. As a vast country that has seen its share of uprising and revolution, the one-time superpower tends to support autocracy as the lesser evil and is skeptical of Western intervention  particularly in the wake of NATO's Libya campaign.

As one of five veto-wielding members on the United Nations Security Council, Russia can block any attempt to exert major international pressure on Assad, whether through economic sanctions or military intervention. Russia is now a business-oriented country, and the Russian government obviously wants to protect the investments made by its businessmen in Syria, Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the independent Institute of Middle Eastern Studies in Moscow. But the main reason in being so stubborn [blocking UN action against Syria] is because Moscow perceives that the Western bloc is wrecking stability in the Middle East in pursuit of wrong-headed idealistic goals. A lot of Russians are horrified at whats going on in the Middle East and theyre happy with their governments position.

Russia has been a prominent defender of the Assad regime, dispatching delegations and envoys to the Syrian capital and warning against international intervention similar to the NATO-led campaign against Col. Muammar Qaddafi. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said recently that some of those taking part in the Syrian street protests had links to terrorists, while another senior Russian foreign ministry official said that terrorist organizations could gain power in Syria if Assads regime is toppled. Such comments, which echo those of the Assad regime, have been warmly greeted in Damascus. On Sunday, Assad welcomed the balanced and constructive Russian position toward the security and stability of Syria.

True, Moscow is not the only country expressing wariness at sudden change in Syria: the five-nation BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) recently declared they were against intervention in Syria and urged dialogue between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition. But Russias public and repeated defense of the regime has frustrated the Syrian opposition, which is seeking the support of the international community in its bid to oust Assad. Last week, Syrian protesters vented their irritation by staging a day of anger against Russia.

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